


an excellent view

by stupidbadgers



Category: Naruto
Genre: Discord: Umino Hours, Friends to Lovers, Hatake Kakashi is an Idiot, Humor, Light-Hearted, M/M, Umino Hours Winter Bingo, hatake kakashi doesn't know how to flirt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28924005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stupidbadgers/pseuds/stupidbadgers
Summary: hatake kakashi doesn't know how to express his feelings.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 11
Kudos: 128
Collections: The Umino Hours Winter Bingo 2020





	an excellent view

**Author's Note:**

> i made myself laugh writing this. i hope you laugh too.
> 
> bingo board prompt: cabin (K-1)
> 
> enjoy~

Iruka still wasn’t quite sure how he had been paired with Kakashi on this mission, or rather, why Kakashi had been paired with him. 

It was winter break for the Academy and Iruka had decided to take a mission that would hopefully last a couple days, get him out of Konoha and even Fire Country. Naruto was still away training and though Iruka had several friends he could have spent the holiday with, he felt like he was intruding. He figured that a decent courier mission to anywhere would be a sufficient distraction from the painful loneliness that was aching inside. 

So it was with great surprise to find Hatake Kakashi at the gates waiting for him the morning he was set to leave, his grey eye closed and curled into a smile. 

“Morning sensei,” Kakashi drawled. 

Iruka narrowed his eyes. It wasn’t that he wasn’t pleased to see Kakashi—in fact, he was quite elated to see the man, thinking he was out on his own mission for the holiday—he just didn’t trust the smile that was currently plastered on the jounin’s face; he could tell it was there even with the mask. Iruka both hated and loved that smile. That was a common feeling he had for the other man though—they had been friends for a long while, even before Kakashi had become the leader of Team Seven, though the small attraction that Iruka had held for Kakashi had grown significantly since that time into something he not dare put a name to.

“Kakashi-san.” 

“Maa, sensei,” Kakashi whined, “You’re always so formal.” 

Iruka could see the pout behind the blue mask covering the lower portion of the man’s face. He had become quite adept at reading Kakashi. 

Iruka chose to ignore the man’s petulant behavior, instead asking, "Are you off on a mission? I thought you had already left for it.” 

“I had,” Kakashi said, nodding. “And then I came back and the Hokage gave me another. Such is the life of a shinobi.” 

Iruka frowned. He didn't like the idea of Kakashi working missions back to back like that. The man was pushed too hard by the village, in Iruka's opinion. 

"You should be resting. Not on another mission."

"Maa, Iruka-sensei, are you worried about me?"

The chuunin’s face softened slightly, a certain amount of fondness slipping through. His voice was soft when he said, “I always worry about you, Kakashi.” 

The lack of honorifics did not seem to escape Kakashi, his eye widening ever so slightly before returning to its normal position of half-lidded. There were few times when Iruka dropped the honorifics, calling Kakashi just his name, even though the jounin had tried to convince him to do that for nearly as long as they had been friends. 

Kakashi cleared his throat, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Well, uh…” 

Iruka raised his eyebrows, waiting for the man to continue. 

“We should go,” Kakashi said abruptly. 

Iruka saw the diversion for what it was, but was too confused by the other man’s statement to call him on it. 

“We?” 

“Yes, didn’t you know I would be joining you on this mission?” 

Iruka’s stomach dropped. 

“What?” 

Kakashi smiled at Iruka again, that damn curve of his eye. 

“There’s been an increase in rogue-nin, so all missions are at least two-nin teams at the moment. Hadn’t you heard?” 

The jounin was far too cheery in delivering this information for Iruka’s comfort. He wasn’t sure why _Hatake Kakashi_ of all shinobi was paired with him for a simple courier mission, but he didn’t have time to question it. He was already later than he wanted to be leaving. 

“No, I hadn’t. We should be on our way though,” he replied before casting a critical eye over Kakashi. “Are you sure you’re up to another mission?” He couldn’t help his concern. 

“I’ll be fine, Iruka,” Kakashi replied, waving his hand. 

*

He was not, in fact, fine.

Iruka sighed, thanking whatever kami above that this was not a time sensitive mission. 

They had been hopping from tree-to-tree, standard for any Konoha shinobi, with Iruka in the lead and Kakashi bringing up the back when all the sudden Iruka heard a yelp and then a thud. When he looked back, Kakashi was no longer in the trees, rather he was laying on the forest floor, hand held to his head. 

Now they were in one of the shelter cabins hidden throughout Fire Country for shinobi to use. It was stocked with non-perishables—mostly ration bars—as well as water and blankets. Iruka was glad they hadn’t been too far from one when Kakashi had fallen, smacking his head on the way down. The man was a high-ranking jounin, former ANBU, one of the best shinobi, and he had lost his footing and hit a branch, unable to gain any control of his flailing limbs. 

Iruka had to carry him on his back to the cabin, making sure he stayed awake. 

It was several hours later and Kakashi was still too loopy to continue on. On top of it, snow had started to fall. They had mostly remained silent, with the exception of Iruka asking Kakashi how he felt and Kakashi’s short replies. 

This was not how Iruka had planned this mission to go. 

Kakashi broke the silence, his voice rough, “Iruka?” 

Iruka glanced at him, taking in the pallor of his skin. He really hoped it was _just_ a concussion and not something more serious. 

The jounin hadn’t looked at Iruka when he spoke, but his eye flicked up to Iruka’s face for a brief moment, ensuring he had the sensei’s attention. 

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. 

Iruka was taken aback. 

“What are you sorry for? I mean, I wouldn’t have expected you to lose chakra control, but it was a simple thing. No one got hurt—well, too hurt anyway,” Iruka said, gently pushing aside Kakashi’s silver hair to look at the nasty bruise that had made an appearance on his forehead. 

“It… wasn’t just chakra control…” 

Iruka narrowed his eyes. 

“You may have been right about me being up for another mission. I probably shouldn’t have gone on this one—the Hokage did try to talk me out of it—but… I just... wanted to spend time with you. Especially over the holiday. I knew you were probably missing Naruto and I didn’t want you to be alone. Because I… ya know…” Kakashi stumbled in his words. The small part of his cheek that was visible and his ear were nearly glowing red with embarrassment. 

Iruka did not know, but he very much wanted Kakashi to finish his sentence. 

“Because?” he prompted. 

Kakashi’s words were muffled by his mask, mumbled in such a way even Iruka—teacher of pre-genin who still had mush-mouth—could not comprehend.

“What was that?” 

“I care about you.” 

Iruka was struck silent as his brain sorted through what Kakashi had just told him. The jounin cared about him. But what kind of care? Was it as coworkers? Friends? More? Kami, he hoped more. 

Gathering his thoughts, Iruka spoke with a strength he did not feel, “Will you please clarify what you mean by that, Kakashi?” 

Kakashi looked up at Iruka again, his gaze intense. There wasn’t much room between them now; Iruka didn’t remember when he had got so close to the other man, sitting on his knees in front of him. 

The jounin’s movement was sudden, completely unexpected. One moment he had still been leaning against the wall, the next he had his hand around the nape of Iruka’s neck, dragging their bodies together and lips were meeting lips. 

Iruka pressed into Kakashi, before pulling back, breathing hard. 

“Clear enough?” Kakashi asked. 

The chuunin nodded dumbly, trying to gather his wits. He could spend hours kissing Kakashi and that was barely even a kiss. 

A glance at the bared face before him made his heart stutter. He had seen Kakashi’s face once or twice before, but the crooked smile accentuated by the beauty mark just below Kakashi’s lip, was on display for him to drink in. And he loved every part of it. 

A stray thought finally trickled into his brain and took root. 

“Wait! You knew you shouldn’t have gone on this mission, but did anyway?” he yelled. “What’s wrong with you? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Or me? What if something had happened? Something worse than you falling out of a tree? Huh?” 

He smacked Kakashi’s arm, hard, before grumbling more about dumb, crazy jounin pushing themselves too hard. 

Kakashi pouted at him, the look all the more intense without his mask on. Iruka didn’t know how he had managed to perfect such a perfect puppy-eye pout. 

“All to spend time with me? You could have done that in Konoha, where it’s safe and comfortable with central heating and comfortable couches!” 

“Sure, but I had a great view when we were in the trees.” 

Kakashi seemed to realize that was not the thing he should have said when Iruka’s glare darkened. 

The chuunin spoke slowly, his voice nearly a growl, “Kakashi. Did you fall out of the trees because you were looking at my ass?” 

Iruka had never seen such a battle-hardened shinobi look so terrified. 

“... maa, I would never—” 

“HATAKE!” 

The walls of the cabin shook with Iruka’s roar. Kakashi launched himself at Iruka, trapping his arms in a steel grip that he honestly should not have had given how chakra depleted and concussed he was. 

Iruka was glaring at him, fire in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry,” Kakashi said with the puppy-dog eyes again. “I’ll make it up to you though.” 

“You’ll do more than that,” Iruka grumbled, the glare diffusing just a little. 

“How about a kiss to start? And then…” he nuzzled his nose under Iruka’s jaw. 

Iruka unconsciously tilted his neck to expose more of it, feeling Kakashi’s warm lips press kisses to it. He had hoped for this with Kakashi, but had never thought he would have it. Despite his frustration with the older man, his heart was beating rapidly with happiness. 

“We finish this mission,” Iruka said, trying to keep his thoughts clear. “Then we return to Konoha, you recover, and we have a nice, _long_ discussion about this.” 

“But sensei,” Kakashi whined. 

“If you think you get any of this before we talk, you’re crazier than I thought.” 

Kakashi made a pitiful sound, enough to make Iruka laugh. He took pity on the man briefly, giving him a kiss to the cheek. 

“Let me up now,” he said, flexing his arms. “How’s your head? Can we finish this mission now?” 

The jounin released him, pouting, before pulling his mask back up and grabbing his pack. 

“Maa, I was fine an hour and a half ago.” 

Iruka’s eyes widened, smacking the jounin on the arm again. 

“What the hell is wrong with you?” 

“You really don’t want an answer to that,” Kakashi replied with a smirk, laughing.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! 
> 
> [tumblr](https://stupidbadgers.tumblr.com)


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